Technology. You know you're getting old when you start to feel as though technology is passing you by. One thing that I struggle to deal with is the mobile device. The OS opens and runs applications that I didn't start up in the first place. It seems to lead its own life, independent of what I tell it to do (or not do, as the case may be.) There's a whole raft of things that I simply cannot shut down or uninstall, and as to admin settings? I think that's called a "five pound hammer." The hammer is my last resort. I do own one. (Actually I own several, so the phone should be very afraid.) It calls itself, "Android." At least it doesn't call itself, "Zark." Just recently, a very good friend of mine stepped down from the voluntary office she had held for more than three decades. It's the end of an era for the little not-for-profit we're involved with. I went to pick up the phone to order flowers as a thank-you, then I realised just how inadequate flowers would be, so I had a bit of a think, and I thought, well, she has an iThingy to make phone calls with. Maybe she'd like one of those larger squarish iThingies as well. I asked a member of her family about it and he said yes. She's probably love one because she is used to the OS from the phone and has been complaining that the screen is too small to see stuff clearly. Oh, good, I said. I asked should I get any accessories like a keyboard. "God, no," he replied. "It's taken me three years to teach her to use the iPhone." Anyway, I'm now looking into our group buying her an iThingy instead of sending a bunch of flowers. I mean, more than thirty years of service... you get less than that for killing someone. So, this week's prompt is: Thingy. Look, at least it gives you plenty of scope.

Good idea I got an iThingy from my colleagues when I moved to Cyprus (don't be too impressed -- I think they got around 300 people to contribute to the kitty).